Resistance random access memory

ABSTRACT

A memory comprises a number of word lines in a first direction, a number of bit lines in a second direction, each coupled to at least one of the word lines, and a number of memory elements, each coupled to one of the word lines and one of the bit lines. Each memory element comprises a top electrode for connecting to a corresponding word line, a bottom electrode for connecting to a corresponding bit line, a resistive layer on the bottom electrode, and at least two separate liners, each liner having resistive materials on both ends of the liner and each liner coupled between the top electrode and the resistive layer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to a semiconductor device, and moreparticularly, to a resistance random access memory (“RRAM”) device andmethod for fabricating the same.

2. Background of the Invention

RRAM is a memory device using materials with variable electricalresistance characteristics in accordance with external influences. Sincethe resistance will not change even after the power source has beendisconnected, RRAM is a non-volatile memory device.

As other memory devices, RRAM includes a number of memory cells, eachcoupled to a word line and a bit line. A RRAM cell may include a bottomelectrode for bit line connection, a top electrode for word lineconnection, and a resistive film as a variable resistor between thebottom and top electrode. The resistive film may be programmed to havehigh resistance or low resistance in two-state memory circuits to storeone bit of data per cell, or a number of resistance-determined states inmulti-state memory circuits to store multiple bits of data in a singlecell. In order to have multiple resistance-determined states, theresistive film may need to provide high resistance value so that thememory may have more operation window to perform multi-bit memoryoperations.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One example consistent with the invention provides a memory whichcomprises a number of word lines in a first direction, a number of bitlines in a second direction, each coupled to at least one of the wordlines, and a number of memory elements, each coupled to one of the wordlines and one of the bit lines. Each memory element comprises a topelectrode for connecting to a corresponding word line, a bottomelectrode for connecting to a corresponding bit line, a resistive layeron the bottom electrode, and at least two separate liners, each linerhaving resistive materials on both ends of the liner and each linercoupled between the top electrode and the resistive layer.

In another example, a method for fabricating a memory comprises thesteps of providing a number of word lines in a first direction,providing a number of bit lines in a second direction, forming a topelectrode for connecting to a corresponding word line, forming a bottomelectrode for connection a corresponding bit line, forming a resistivelayer on the bottom electrode, and forming at least two separate liners,each liner having resistive materials on both ends of the liner and eachliner coupled between the top electrode and the resistive layer.

Another example consistent with the invention provides a method forfabricating a memory, which comprises the steps of: providing a numberof word lines in a first direction, providing a number of bit lines in asecond direction, forming a bottom electrode, depositing an oxide layeron the bottom electrode, forming an insulating layer on the oxide layer,patterning the insulating layer, the oxide layer and the bottomelectrode, thereby leaving a portion of the bottom electrode uncoveredand sides of the oxide layer exposed, forming two separate liners on theuncovered bottom electrode and along the exposed sides of the oxidelayer, forming resistive materials on both ends of each liner, andforming a resistive layer on the uncovered bottom electrode.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofthe invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction withthe appended, exemplary drawings. It should be understood, however, thatthe invention is not limited to the precise arrangements andinstrumentalities shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of one exemplary memory cell inaccordance of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a memory cell in FIG. 1 showing anexemplary manufacturing method according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 a sectional view of a memory cell in FIG. 1 showing an exemplarymanufacturing method according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a memory cell in FIG. 1 showing anexemplary manufacturing method according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a memory cell in FIG. 1 showing anexemplary manufacturing method according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a memory cell in FIG. 1 showing anexemplary manufacturing method according to the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a memory cell in FIG. 1 showing anexemplary manufacturing method according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a memory cell 100 may be formed on an integratedcircuit substrate 102. The memory 100 may include a bottom electrode 104and a top electrode 106. A resistive layer 136 is formed on portions ofthe bottom electrode 104. Between the bottom electrode 104 and topelectrode 106, there are an oxide layer 108 and a resistive structure.The resistive structure may include two L-shaped liners 120 separated byan oxide layer 114 and a layer 112 of metal or metal oxide materials.Each L-shaped liner 120 may include a first oxide liner 122, a metalliner 124, as well as a second oxide liner 126. The metal liner 124 foreach L-shaped liner 120 has two resistive ends 132 and 134. Eachresistive end 132 or 134 is made of either the same or differentresistive materials.

Resistive materials may include chalcogenide alloy material,magnetroresistive materials, and polymer materials. Chalcogenide alloymaterials may change between the crystalline and amorphous states withapplication of heat. Under high temperature, over 600° C. for example,the chalcogenide becomes liquid. Once cooled, it is frozen into anamorphous glass-like state and its electrical resistance is high. On theother hands, by heating the chalcogenide to a temperature between itscrystallization point and its melting point, it may transform into acrystalline state with a much lower resistance. Since the crystallineand amorphous states of chalcogenide alloy materials may bedistinguished in accordance with their different electrical resistivityvalues, this forms the basis by which data is stored. For example, theamorphous, high resistance state may be used to represent a binary 1,and the crystalline, low resistance state represents a binary 0.Chalcogenide alloy materials may be made of a mixture of germanium,antimony and tellurium called, GST. Chalcogenide alloy materials may bedeposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) sputtering ormagnetron-sputtering method with reactive gases, such as Ar, N2, or He,at pressure of 1 mTorr to 100 mTorr. The deposition may be performed atroom temperature. The collimator with aspect ratio of 1 to 5 may be usedto improve the fill-in performance. In addition, to improve the fill-inperformance, the DC bias of tens of volts to hundreds of volts may alsobe used. The post deposition annealing treatment with vacuum or N2ambient, may improve the crystallize state of chalcogenide alloymaterials. The temperature for annealing treatment may range from 100°C. to 400° C. with time of less than 30 minutes.

Magnetroresistive materials may have variable magnetization directionswith application of a magnetic field. Due to the magnetic tunnel effect,the electrical resistance of the magnetroresistive materials changesdepending on the magnetization direction. Therefore, memory cells usingsuch materials may store data by the magnetization states and the datastored therein can be sensed by measuring the electrical resistance ofthe cells. Magnetroresistive materials may include colossal magnetoresistive (“CMR”) thin films and oxidation thin films having Perovskitestructure. CMR thin films may be formed by PVD sputtering ormagnetron-sputtering method with reactive gases, such as Ar, N2, O2 orHe at the pressure of 1 mTorr to 100 mTorr. The deposition temperaturemay range from room temperature to 600° C., depending on the postdeposition treatment condition. The collimator with aspect ratio of 1 to5 may improve the fill-in performance. In addition, the DC bias of tensof volts to hundreds of volts may also be used to improve the fill-inperformance. Further, a magnetic field of tens of gauss to Tesla may beapplied to improve the magnetic crystallize state. The post depositionannealing treatment with vacuum or N2 ambient or O2/N2 mixed ambient mayimprove the crystallize state of CMR materials. In addition, a bufferlayer of YBaCuO3 with thickness of 30 nm to 200 nm may be depositedbefore deposition of CMR materials to improve the crystallize of CMRmaterials. Similarly, the oxidation thin films having Perovskitestructure may be deposited by same method discussed above or formed byoxidation discussed below.

Polymer materials may have variable polarization states with applicationof an electric field. Since the electrical resistance of a polymerchanges in accordance with the orientation of polarization of thepolymer, the data stored in memory cells using polymer materials can besensed by measuring the electrical resistance of the cells. Polymermaterials may include tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) or PCBM[[6,6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester]. Polymer materials may beformed by thermal evaporation, e-beam evaporation or MBE evaporation. Asolid-state TCNQ and dopant pellets are co-evaporated in a singlechamber where materials are mixed and deposited on wafers. There may beno reactive chemistries or gases. The deposition may be performed atpressure of 10⁻⁴ Torr to 10⁻¹⁰ Torr. The wafer temperature may rangefrom room temperature to 200° C. The post deposition annealing treatmentwith vacuum or N₂ ambient may improve the composition of polymermaterials. The temperature for the annealing treatment may range fromroom temperature to 300° C. with time less than 1 hour. In addition,polymer materials may be formed by spin coating of the doped TCNQsolution with rotation of less than 100 rpm.

FIGS. 2-7 are sectional views of a non-volatile memory cell showing anexemplary method of fabricating a memory cell of FIG. 1. Referring toFIG. 2, conductive materials are deposited on a substrate 102 andpatterned to form bottom electrodes 104 for bit line connection. In oneexample, the conductive materials are metals that may be subject tooxidation, such as Al, W, Ti, Ni or Cu. Inter-metal dielectricdeposition is then performed to overlay bottom electrodes 104 with alayer of oxide 108 by chemical mechanical planarization. An insulatingmaterial 202, such as silicon nitride in one example, is subsequentlyformed on the oxide layer 108. The structure of FIG. 2 is patterned byvaporization to form the structure of FIG. 3 where portions of thebottom electrodes 104 are uncovered and side of the oxide layer 108 areexposed.

Referring to FIG. 4, an oxide liner 122 is formed on the uncoveredbottom electrode 104 and along the exposed sides of the oxide layer 108by oxide liner deposition. Following that, a metal liner deposition isperformed to form a metal liner 124 on the oxide liner 122. In oneexample, the metal liner is made of metals that may be subject tooxidation, such as Al, W, Ti, Ni or Cu. A second oxide liner 126 is thenformed on the metal liner 124 by another oxide liner deposition.Subsequently, vaporization for blanket etching is performed to form thestructure of the L-shaped liner 120.

Referring to FIG. 5, resistive materials are formed on both ends of eachmetal liner 124 as well as on the uncovered portion of the bottomelectrode 104. In one example where the metal liner 124 and the bottomelectrode 104 are made of metals that are subject to oxidation, thesurface of metal may be oxidized to form metal oxides, at both ends 132and 134, and a metal oxide layer 136 on the uncovered bottom electrode104. Oxidation may be done by, for example, thermal oxidation havingtemperature ranging from 200° C. to 700° C. with pure O2 or N2/O2 mixedgas at pressure of several mTorr to 1 atmosphere. Another example ofoxidation is plasma oxidation where an RF or DC source plasma with pureO2 or Ar/O2 mixed gas or Ar/N2/O2 mixed gas with pressure of 1 mTorr to100 mTorr may be used to oxidize the surface of metal. The oxidationtemperature may range from room temperature to 300° C. depending on thedegree of plasma oxidation.

Referring to FIG. 6, a layer 112 of either metal or metal oxides isdeposited on the metal oxide layer 136. A layer 114 of oxide is thenformed on the layer 112 by chemical mechanical planarization. Followingthat, the insulating layer 122 and the resistive end 132 of the metalliner 124 may be removed by conventional oxide CMP (planarize layer 114,a oxide layer, then removed layer 124).

Referring to FIG. 7, oxidation may be performed again to form metaloxides at the ends 132 of each metal liner 124. By oxidation indifferent environment, the characteristics of the metal oxides at theends 132 may be different from those of the metal oxides at the ends134. Then, a conductive material such as metal materials may bedeposited on the structure of FIG. 7 for word line connection to formthe structure of FIG. 1.

With the structure of FIG. 1, each of the resistive ends 132 and 134forms a resistor (R132, R134) which may provide high resistance due toits small area. The resistors R132 and R134 are connected in series,which are together connected in parallel with the other pair of theresistors R132 and R134. In addition, the resistive layer 136 also formsa resistor R136 in series with combination of the resistors R132 andR134. In the case where the layer 112 is made of resistive materials,the layer 112 may also provide a resistor R112 which is connected inseries between resistor R136 and combination of the resistors R132 andR134. Since the resistance ends 132 and 134 have very small area, theymay provide high resistance, thus resulting in more operation window toperform multi-bit memory reading and writing operations.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could bemade to the embodiments described above without departing from the broadinventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that thisinvention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but itis intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A resistance memory, comprising: a top electrode for connecting to acorresponding word line; a bottom electrode for connecting to acorresponding bit line; a resistive layer on the bottom electrode; andat least two separate liners, wherein each liner has a first end coupledto the top electrode and a second end coupled to the resistive layer,and has data storage materials with variable resistance only at thefirst end and the second end thereof.
 2. The resistance memory of claim1, wherein each liner includes a first oxide film, a metal film with thedata storage materials on both ends of the metal film, and a secondoxide film.
 3. The resistance memory of claim 1, wherein the liners areseparated by a resistive material.
 4. The resistance memory of claim 1,wherein the liners are separated by a metal material.
 5. The resistancememory of claim 1, wherein the data storage materials at the ends ofeach liner are same materials.
 6. The resistance memory of claim 1,wherein the data storage materials at the ends of each liner aredifferent materials.
 7. A resistance memory, comprising: a top electrodefor connecting to a corresponding word line; a bottom electrode forconnecting to a corresponding bit line; a resistive layer on the bottomelectrode and contacting the bottom electrode; and at least two separateliners, wherein each liner has a first end coupled to the top electrodeand a second end coupled to the resistive layer, and has data storagematerials with variable resistance only at the first end and the secondend thereof.
 8. The resistance memory of claim 7, wherein each linerincludes a first oxide film, a metal film with the data storagematerials on both ends of the metal film, and a second oxide film. 9.The resistance memory of claim 7, wherein the liners are separated by aresistive material.
 10. The resistance memory of claim 7, wherein theliners are separated by a metal material.
 11. The resistance memory ofclaim 7, wherein the data storage materials at the ends of each linerare same materials.
 12. The resistance memory of claim 7, wherein thedata storage materials at the ends of each liner are differentmaterials.